Vanden Hole Charlotte, Ayuso Miriam, Aerts Peter, Prims Sara, Van Cruchten Steven, Van Ginneken Chris
Laboratory of Applied Veterinary Morphology, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical, Pharmaceutical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Laboratory of Functional Morphology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Heliyon. 2019 Sep 24;5(9):e02510. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02510. eCollection 2019 Sep.
In the pig, intrauterine crowding can greatly affect postnatal characteristics, among which birth weight and locomotion. In a previous study, we discovered that piglets with a low birth weight/low vitality (L piglets) have a reduced motor performance compared to piglets with a normal birth weight/normal vitality (N piglets). A possible explanation is that L piglets lack the energy to increase their motor performance to the level of that of N piglets. Blood glucose levels (GLU) and glycogen concentrations in skeletal muscle of the front (GLY) and hind leg (GLY) and the liver (GLY) at birth and during the first 96 h postpartum were compared between L and N piglets. GLU at birth was the same for both groups. After birth, GLU immediately increased in N piglets, whereas it only increased after 8 h in L piglets. L piglets showed a lower GLY at birth and did not use this glycogen during the first 8 h postpartum, while N piglets showed a gradual depletion. GLY at birth was 50% lower for L piglets and was unused during the studied period while N piglets consumed half of their GLY during the first 8 h. Based on these results, it is possible that lower glycogen concentrations at birth, the delayed increase in GLU and the lower use of glycogen during the first 8 h after birth negatively affect motor performance in L piglets. However, based on this study, it is unclear whether the low mobilization of glycogen by L piglets is a consequence, rather than a cause of their lower motor performance.
在猪身上，子宫内拥挤会极大地影响出生后的特征，其中包括出生体重和运动能力。在之前的一项研究中，我们发现与出生体重正常/活力正常的仔猪（N仔猪）相比，出生体重低/活力低的仔猪（L仔猪）运动表现较差。一种可能的解释是，L仔猪缺乏将其运动表现提高到N仔猪水平的能量。我们比较了L仔猪和N仔猪出生时以及产后前96小时前肢（GLY）、后肢（GLY）和肝脏（GLY）骨骼肌中的血糖水平（GLU）和糖原浓度。两组出生时的GLU相同。出生后，N仔猪的GLU立即升高，而L仔猪在8小时后才升高。L仔猪出生时的GLY较低，并且在产后前8小时未动用这种糖原，而N仔猪则逐渐消耗糖原。L仔猪出生时的GLY比N仔猪低50%，并且在研究期间未被动用，而N仔猪在出生后的前8小时消耗了一半的GLY。基于这些结果，出生时较低的糖原浓度、GLU的延迟升高以及出生后前8小时糖原的较低利用率可能会对L仔猪的运动表现产生负面影响。然而，基于这项研究，尚不清楚L仔猪糖原动员不足是其运动表现较低的结果而非原因。
